Black Excellence: The Kingdom of Kaabu
The kingdom of Kaabu held power from the 1500s through the 1800s and included modern-day Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.
The story of Kaabu’s royalty and reign has been told for generations through the songs of griots. In fact, much of what’s known about the kingdom and its capital city Kansala has been passed down by griots.
“It played a key role in many events of historical importance for the world, including early African statehood,” says Sirio Canós-Donnay, an archaeologist at the University of Valencia.
Yet it was reportedly never visited by Europeans (even though there was contact — the people of Kaabu did trade with the Europeans).
Canós-Donnay wanted to know what this real-life Camelot looked like.
In early 2024, she and her colleagues, including a handful of Senegalese archaeologists, began the work of unearthing Kansala. They’ve since uncovered physical evidence of the kingdom’s capital.